14 DAY TRIAL // A recent study carried out by Italian researchers at the Lancisi Heart Institute in Ancona showed that taking a waltz or more may be a highly enjoyable method of reducing risk for heart disease in people or improving heart function and easing symptoms in individuals who suffer from chronic heart failure. Presenting their results at the annual American Heart Association meeting taking place in Chicago, the team of researchers said that their study found that dancing the waltz is as beneficial, if not more beneficial, than traditional working out programs.
Dr. Robert Myerburg, Professor of Medicine and Physiology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine stated that regular visits on the dancing floor to take the '1,2,3 and turn' steps of waltz may be extremely effective against heart problems, as this is a rhythmic, entertaining and very pleasant method of exercising and staying active. He said: "For the person with heart disease, this might be a good way to do exercise to their level of tolerance, and it would be enjoyable for them. You could adjust the form of dance you're doing for the person who is mildly limited because of heart disease."
Besides the fact that waltzing cuts risks for heart problems, the team of researchers pinpointed the fact that exercising the classical type of dance is also highly beneficial for individuals who already suffer from heart disorders, as it is both agreeable and safe. The study was conducted on 110 chronic heart failure patients, out of whom 89 were men with an average age of 59. The subjects have been randomly assigned to 3 groups: those in the first group took up traditional aerobic exercise, those in the second group took up a dance program which included slow and fast waltzes, while those in the third group took up none of the activities and were used as a control group.
Lead researcher of the study Dr. Romualdo Belardinelli stated: "The problem is that sometimes the adherence of cardiac patients to exercise training programs is not very high, so we have to find something that may capture their interest. Waltz dancing improves functional capacity and quality of life for chronic heart failure patients without important side effects. It may be considered in combination or as an alternative to exercise training in these patients."
Volunteers in the first and the second groups exercised three times a week for 8 weeks. Overall results of the study showed that heart function improved both in the traditional aerobic exercise group and in the waltz group, as compared to the control group in which it remained steady. However, the difference between health benefits among working out and dancing subjects was that the ones in the latter group also had their quality of life improved, especially emotionally.
Dr. Louis E. Teichholz, Division Director of Cardiology and Chief of Complementary Medicine at Hackensack University Medical Center, in Hackensack, N.J., commented on the findings of the Italian study: "I don't think you could say this is better than good aerobic exercise. The major difference is people were happier doing it. In people with heart failure and in normal people, we need to think that exercise can take various forms, and dancing certainly in this study is shown not to be deleterious and actually to be helpful."